As I Lay Dying
by Lazerwolf314
Summary: When Emily receives devistating news, she tries to withdraw into herself. But Garcia pulls her back and gives her a spark of hope. Nominated for best Emily/Garcia in the 2011 Profilers Choice Awards.


**This is my entry for the Silver Screen Challenge on Chit Chat on Author's Corner forum. My prompt was As I Lay Dying and my two characters were Emily and Garcia. I then realized just how difficult it is for me to write Garcia. I hope I did alright. It's just something short and (in my view) sweet. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think! :)**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Criminal Minds. But sadly I don't.**

The cool metal table against her back felt harsh and cruel. Almost as if were there just to make the entire ordeal worse. Like its only purpose was to smirk at her discomfort. Why, exactly, did they have to build these things to damn uncomfortable anyway?

Emily Prentiss idly wondered all this, along with a few choice words she would say to the inventor of the aforementioned table, as she lay silently in the MRI machine. It clunked away above her, scanning her internal organs and she wished the thing would simply be quite. The sound was causing a splitting headache, which wasn't helping her situation at all.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, but was in fact only a few minutes, the nurse pulled the sliding table out from the heart of the contraption. Sitting up, blood surged to her head and the world spun once on its axis. The nurse tried to get her to lie still for a moment, but she was hearing any of it. As stubborn as a pit-bull, she refused to remain where she was and slid off the metal.

When her feet hit the floor, she wobbled and was instantly forced into a wheelchair by the, originally-nice-but-now-annoyed, nurse. Receiving a look that would give Hotch a run for his money, the protest died in her throat before it had even fully formed. She may have been a federal agent who chased the worst of humanity, but she really didn't like hospitals. And she wasn't about to go up against its staff.

"Smart move." The nurse murmured with a smirk. Emily resisted sticking out her tongue and simply glared. She may be a grown woman, but there was still a part of her that wished it could sulk like a child. As she was pushed down the hall to her room, she could hear soft laughter behind her. Sighing, she realized how much she was overreacting. At least arguing with the nurse was taking her mind off what might happen in the next hour.

Arriving at her room, she was finally left alone. Sitting on the bed with her legs dangling over the edge, she closed her eyes in thought.

It was a scant few minutes later when Doctor Hanstein entered, a medical file in his hands. The look on his face told Emily all she needed to know.

"It's bad isn't it?" She asked bluntly. "Don't dance around this. I can take it."

Nodding, Hanstein opened the file and pulled out some of her scans. Sticking them to the light box, he began to explain.

"It seems you have stage three melanomas on your liver. Look here." Pointing to the white mass that stood out starkly on the scan, he continued. "We can't tell if they are malignant or benign. We'll have to do a biopsy to determine. What I can tell you is that if we had caught this any later, it could have been disastrous. You are very lucky Emily."

"If I was lucky, I wouldn't be here right now."

"True." The doctor admonished. "How about we see if we can wiggle you into a biopsy today? Would that work, or do you have to head back to work soon?" He asked, well aware of the demands of Emily's job.

"No, today is my day off. Let's get it done." Her voice had gone flat and cold and Hanstein couldn't help but notice.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. At the best, we can have the results in tomorrow morning." Giving her a final reassuring smile, he left. Surprisingly, he managed to get her into the biopsy quickly and within the hour, she was ready to leave. The test had passed in a blur, as she had withdrawn deep into her mind to contemplate things.

Arriving late for work was always a bad thing when you were on Aaron Hotchner's team. It was just something you didn't do. Unfortunately for Penelope Garcia, that was exactly what had happened that morning. As hard as she had tried, there had been no way to beat the traffic that always clogged the streets in the days approaching Christmas. Everyone had to be somewhere to pick up last minute gifts and finish up their last days of work. Truth was, people were everywhere.

Rushing into the bathroom of the BAU office, Garcia was only focused on making sure her makeup was done right and that she had managed to get her clothing in the correct place. She had been in such a rush to get out the door, she hadn't been quite sure of either. _Thank you, you piece of crap alarm._ She thought for about the millionth time.

That's when her ears tuned to the sound of someone weeping. For some reason, whoever it was sounded familiar, but Garcia couldn't quite place the sound. Peering below the stalls, she saw a pair of black shoes under the last one.

"Hello? Are you alright?" She asked softly, concern etched in her voice. The sound halted and the person sucked in a breath.

"My name's Garcia. Is there anything I can do for you?" Her primary goal was to make sure that whoever this woman was, she would be alright. Garcia could never leave someone in distress.

There was a soft click as the lock was snicked open. The door slowly swung open to reveal the last person Penelope would ever have thought to find in a bathroom crying.

"Emily?"

"Yeah Garcia, it's me." Emily replied tiredly, dabbing at her eyes with tissue. Damn her; why had she broken down in the BAU bathroom of all places. Reviewing all the other places she could've been when the call came, she then decided it wasn't the worst.

"What's wrong?" Penelope asked, extending a hand and helping her best friend to her feet.

"It's nothing." Emily quickly locked down, unwilling to share what information had just been thrust upon her.

Shocked and hurt that Emily would lie to her, Garcia took a step back. Reading the expression on her face, Prentiss sighed and pushed a hand through her hair. She felt terrible and this wasn't helping. As much as she loved Garcia, in this very moment, all she wanted to be was alone. She just wanted peace and time to come to grips with the fact she may very well die in the next few months.

"I can't believe you would lie Emily." Garcia said with a shaking voice. "You know you can trust me."

Sighing, Emily finished drying the tears on her face. "I do. It's just… can you please drop this? At least for now?" She asked with a note of panic in her voice. Garcia caught it and blinked in surprise. Debating silently with herself, she decided that pressing on the issue would just force Emily to close down more and there was nothing she could do at the moment.

"Alright. But promise you'll tell me what's wrong." Garcia demanded, her tone telling Emily that there was no way she'd avoid this for very long.

With a short nod, Emily turned to make sure that she looked presentable. She'd be in a room full of profilers in a few short minutes; she had to be positive they wouldn't be able to tell that she's been crying. Standing uselessly behind her raven haired friend, Penelope simply fluttered her hands as she waited.

"I'll be right there Garcia. I wouldn't keep Hotch waiting any longer if I were you."

"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you."

"I'll be fine." Looking down at the sink in front of her, Prentiss clenched her fists as she fought the urge to punch something. That was Morgan's job. Just as Garcia was leaving the room, she thought she heard Emily whisper something. It sounded like, "I'm sorry." But she wasn't sure.

Emily prayed thanks to whatever gods there were that the team didn't end up with a case that day. She wasn't sure she would've been able to deal with the extra stress. And on a side note, she had to have another doctor's appointment soon to figure out treatment. With a ragged half sob, half sigh she realized that her life was literally in the balance at the moment.

Morgan looked up from his desk and met her eyes carefully. Instantly recognizing what he was doing, she frowned. "Don't profile me Derek."

Surprised at her use of his first name, he spoke softly. "Are you okay Emily?"

"I'm fine. Drop it, please." Seeing the walls come up in her eyes, he wisely backed off.

Other than that one incident, the rest of the work day went by smoothly. She buried herself in paperwork, drowning the pain and panic bubbling in her stomach with it. But the doctor's words continued to ring her ears throughout the day.

"_I'm so sorry to tell you this. The mass is… malignant." Hanstien's voice sounded empty over the phone._

"_Are... are you sure?" She asked softly, pressing a hand to her stomach as it revolted._

"_Yes. I ran the tests twice for you."_

"_Oh. Okay. Can I call you later? I need… I need to think." Emily's voice was strangled as she forced the words through numb lips._

"_Yes. Anything you need. But I must remind you that time is of the essence. Goodbye Ms. Prentiss." Hanstein replied, clicking down the phone._

"_Yeah." She responded to the dead line. "I know."_

Garcia cornered her at the end of the day. By this time, Emily was exhausted, physically and emotionally and she had no strength left in her. She allowed Penelope to lead her into the dark sanctum that the technical analyst called home. And that was when Emily finally spilled her guts.

There may have been tears in her eyes, and her heart may have gone cold, but Garcia held her friend tight while Emily cried softly. Of all the things that she might've guessed, Penelope would have never thought that this was what the dark haired woman was hiding. And, even as she felt the familiar tug of panic when she realized that she might lose a friend, she kept it together.

"Emily, when is your appointment?" She asked softly as she handed Prentiss a tissue. A bolt of surprise and confusion flickered in her eyes as she replied.

"I don't have one yet. Why?"

"I'm not letting you face this alone. I know you probably don't want to tell the others, but you have to. Even if you do it later, I'm going to be right beside you. And don't you dare say that you can do this alone. Because, if you do, I swear to god I will remove you from the face of the technicalogical earth as we know it." Staring at Garcia in shock, Emily couldn't help but notice just how serious Garcia was. Nodding mutely, she felt something inside of her break at the realization that her family wasn't going to abandon her or leave her behind. She was going to beat this thing and she was going to do it for them.

**The End.**


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